Elis Submerge Swimmers; Women Look to Nationals After Final 83-46 Loss

Despite drowning out the Yale squad in the traditional pre-meet shouting match, the Harvard Women's swim team was unable to carry its advantage into the water, falling to the Elis, 83-46, at Blodgett pool on Saturday in its last regular season meet of the year.

Sisters Carolyn and Helen Hyde, who captured two first-place finishes each and powered the Yale relay teams to two more wins, led a talented and very deep Yale squad. The Eli women finished second earlier this month in the Ivy League Women's Swimming Championships.

Harvard coach Stephanie Walsh got strong performances once again from several swimmers. Junior co-captain Maura Costin won the 50-yd. freestyle in 26.33, edging out her Yale opponent by .06 seconds. Costin also placed second in the 50-yd. butterfly.

Freshman star Adele Joel continued her winning ways, capturing the 100-yd. breaststroke and placing second in the 100-yd. Individual Medley. Fellow yardling Emily Feldman won the 100-yd. backstroke with a time of 1:05.84.

From the boards, Crimson diving sensation Pam Stone continued her domination, easily winning the one- and three-meter competitions.

Crystal Ball

Looking ahead to post-season competition, another freshman, Julie McAree, while swimming unofficially, qualified for the small college nationals in the 200-yd. freestyle with a time of 2:17.96. Barely missing the qualifying time for nationals was the 200-yd. freestyle relay team of Costin, Joel, Katie, Kelley and Gina Stuart, whose 146.72 time exceeded the cutoff mark by a little more than 0.3 seconds.

However, seven swimmers have now qualified for the nationals to be held in Reno, Nev., on March 6. The group includes Costin, Joel, Stone and Feldman in their individual events, and relay team members Liz Adams and Gina Stuart.

CRIMSON SPLASHES: Despite a disappointing 1-8 record, Walsh said she was pleased with the progress her swimmers had made over the course of the season, especially after four of the team's top performers dropped from competitive swimming at the start of the year.